The second quarter Social Weather poll conducted from June 27 to 30 found adult joblessness at 19.7 percent, 4.2 points below the 23.9 percent (est. 10.9 million adults) posted in the preceding quarter.

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SWS: Jobs outlook deteriorates but still ‘very high’

(Philstar.com) - September 13, 2018 - 5:37pm

MANILA, Philippines — An estimated 8.6 million Filipinos remained jobless in the second quarter, according to a Social Weather Stations survey, although net optimism on job availability in the next 12 months stayed “very high.”

The second quarter Social Weather poll conducted from June 27 to 30 found adult joblessness at 19.7 percent, 4.2 points below the 23.9 percent (est. 10.9 million adults) posted in the preceding quarter.

The pollster interviewed face-to-face 1,200 adults nationwide for this survey. The latest poll has sampling error margins of ±3 percent for national percentages, and ±6 percent each for Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

SWS’s adult joblessness data refers to adults in the labor force. “Those with a job at present, plus those without a job at present and looking for a job, are part of the labor force,” the survey noted.

In the April-June period, 9.5 percent (estimated 4.2 million adults) of Filipinos voluntarily left their old jobs while 6.8 percent (estimated 3 million adults) involuntarily lost their jobs.

The June poll also revealed that adult labor force participation rate stood at 68.3 percent or an estimated 43.8 million adults. This is a 3.1 percent decrease from the 71.4 percent (est. 45.8 million adults) posted in the March survey.

Meanwhile, optimism that there will be more jobs steadied at 47 percent in June while respondents who expressed pessimistic job outlook increased by 3 points to 15 percent.

That yielded a net optimism on job availability score of a “very high” +32 in June, 5 points below the “very high” +37 in the first quarter.

Commenting on the survey results, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said the figures show the economy is “really strong.”

Roque said SWS’ April-June poll is “consistent” with the July Labor Force Survey of the Philippines Statistics Authority.

Based on latest government data, while employment rate was at a 10-year high in July and jobless rate eased, more Filipinos sought additional work and income after underemployment worsened to 17.2 percent from 16.5 percent.

Before President Rodrigo Duterte left Thursday for his one-on-one with President Xi Jinping in Beijing, he promised to “invoke” the 2016 ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague that resolved some maritime disputes between the two neighbors.

Eight warships, four aircraft and more than a thousand personnel from the US and ten Southeast Asian countries will join maritime drills kicking off Monday, as part of a joint exercise extending into the flashpoint South China Sea.

China has rejected as “unwelcome” the call of the United Kingdom, France and Germany on the South China Sea claimants to respect the arbitration ruling of 2016 and the rules-based framework laid out in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).